Press Releases

May262011

“The Majority Leader’s decision not to bring adjournment to a vote... is a stark admission that the Democrat Senate cannot justify to the American people its unwillingness to work on a budget. So indefensible is their stance that they have resorted to ducking a simple vote on whether to adjourn the chamber for Memorial Day recess.”

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following comment today after Majority Leader Reid decided not to bring adjournment up for a vote, but instead to keep the Senate in “pro forma” sessions in which, while the Senate is not adjourned, no real work can occur:

“This Monday I announced that I would object to any effort to adjourn the Senate for recess as long as the Democrat Majority refused to produce a public budget and refused to allow the Budget Committee to meet to work on one. Instead of presenting an honest plan to confront our spiraling spending and debt, the Majority Leader made a mockery of the budget process, crafting a careful plan to prevent any budget from moving forward in the Senate. The entire execution of this plan was designed for political gain and in disregard of the national interest. So disconnected from the public are Democrat leaders in Washington that they even seemed to brag about the political attacks they hoped to launch. And Majority Leader Reid even went so far as to claim that it would be "foolish" for Senate Democrats to produce a budget.

So here we are, 757 days since a budget has passed. During this time we have spent more than $7 trillion dollars and added more than $3 trillion to our debt.

The Majority Leader's decision not to bring adjournment to a vote—but instead to hold a series of pro forma sessions—is a stark admission that the Democrat Senate cannot justify to the American people its unwillingness to work on a budget. So indefensible is their stance that they have resorted to ducking a simple vote on whether to adjourn the chamber for Memorial Day recess.

But they cannot run from the issue. The American people know we are spending this country into decline. They know that the refusal of Democrat leaders to operate under a budget is leading us to bankruptcy. This matter is not going away. My colleagues and I will continue to call on our friends on the other side of the aisle to control their spending and to make the choices necessary to put this country on the sound path—on the right path. There is little time left for delay.”

[NOTE: To view a letter from Sessions and other Republican senators asking the Majority Leader not to recess until Senate Democrats bring forward a budget and schedule a mark-up in the Budget Committee, please click here.]